Porter Ranch CPA Files False Returns, Loses License

A Porter Ranch certified public account has lost his license.

An administrative law judge revoked the license of Masood Ahmed Chotani in January, according to information recently released by the California Board of Accountancy Enforcement Action.

According to the report, Chotani hatched a scheme with a co-conspirator to defraud the United States by filing 250 false tax returns, bilking the government out of $2 million.

The partnership with the unnamed co-conspirator began in 2001, when the pair obtained social security numbers, then filed false tax returns showing the government owed the nonexistent filers a refund, according to the report.

“In order to generate the fictitious W-2 forms, Mr. Chotani agreed to obtain such information from his tax preparation clients. Mr. Chotani then provided his co-conspirators with employer identification information for various companies from his client files, including company names, addresses and employer identification numbers,” says the report.